loving and in love
by i am the girl on fire
Summary: Percy Jackson, get yourself together. She's just some girl, percy mentally cursed himself. And yet she wasn't just some girl. She was his. And he was hers.
1. Chapter 1

Percy found himself staring at her. She was sitting at the bench by the campfire, where kids laughing hysterically, their faces covered in chocolate, surrounded her. And yet not one of them seemed to be aware in the slightest of the blonde haired girl whose face was buried in a book; a look of utter concentration on her face. Percy marvelled at the way her eyebrows furrowed whenever she got to a part that confused her, or the way a smile would play on her lips whenever she would finally, _finally, _understand something. It wasn't like Percy had never seen her before. It was just that the way that the campfire lit up her face, the way a piece of hair would keep falling in front of her face until she got so frustrated she tied it up into a ponytail, that at that moment she looked as beautiful as she ever had.

Even when she had put her hair up into a ponytail, the same peice of hair fell down onto her face. She was so frustrated that she snapped her book shut and stomped her feet on the ground. Percy found himself laughing aloud at the sight. Percy then realised his mistake when she suddenly looked up and locked eyes with his. And, _oh gods, _those eyes. As deep and grey as the sky itself.

_Percy Jackson, get yourself together. She's just some girl, _percy mentally cursed himself. And yet she wasn't just some girl. She was his. And he was hers.

He watched the girl as her once stormy eyes immediately brightened. She sashayed over to him and plonked herself on the empty space next to him. How many times had she sat by him? How many times had they laughed, hugged and even kissed together? Percy knew the answers to all of these questions. But his brain still froze over whenever she came near him, his heart still skipped a beat, considered stopping, and carried on at a slightly faster pace.

"Howdy seaweed brain" she said knocking her shoulder with his. "Whatcha thinking?" with one look at her face Percy knew that she was quite sure she knew exactly what he was thinking. Percy sighed and said "oh just stuff you know" and did the old school trick of putting his hand on the small space that was between her and himself. She looked at his hand resting there raised an eyebrow and actually laughed. "whats so funny?" percy frowned. She grabbed his hand and brought it up to her cheek. His heart did that stupid thing again.

"You, for Zeus's sake" she replied giggling. Percy couldn't help but laugh along with her.

"Well it worked didn't it" he was still chuckling when she reached up and touched the corners of his eyes.

"They crinkle when you laugh..." she trailed off. A flush of red appeared on her cheeks. She quickly pulled her hand away and took Percy's away from her cheek. Percy sighed for the second time. He sighed in exasperation alot when he was around her. She thought things through way too much. And whenever she allowed that part of her to come out, the part of her that just said whatever was on her mind, whatever her true feelings really were or whatever her emotions were really telling her, she would quickly stop herself and take back what she had just done or said. Percy noticed Rachel and Chiron were both staring at them. They both suddenly saw Percy had noticed them staring and had a sudden interest in their hands and struck up a conversation about the positives and negatives of smores. Percy laced his hand with hers.

"Let's go to the lake" he stated. She nodded approvingly. They both stood up and made their way to the canoe lake leaving the hussle and bussle behind them. Percy drank up the quiet. They both sat at the exact spot that they had when they had shared their first proper kiss. The girl swung her legs over the side, but percy sat with his legs crossed. She started humming a little tune to herself, "so yesterday" by Hillary Duff. Percy smiled. She smiled back at him and started to tell percy the memories that he knew all too well, but the way she said them, adding little things and thinking out loud like she would always do, made those memories even more special.

Percy found himself wanting to say the thing he hadn't said in weeks.

So he did.

"im in love with you" he stated. She stopped abruptly mid sentence. She closed her eyes and let out a long breath like she had done the last time he had said it. She didn't reply for a while so percy decided to say it again.

"im in love with you. i mean...i love you"

She opened her eyes and smiled, but her eyes wouldn't quite meet his.

"i love you too" she said. Percy knew she meant it. After all, she had been the first to say it, over 3 months ago. But that wasn't what percy had said.

"are you in love with me?" he asked the question that had been pestering him and leaving him staring up at the ceiling in bed, wondering, while everyone else was sleeping in other cabins. She gulped and turned herself away from him.

"i just... i love you Percy. Isn't that enough?" Percy nodded even though it wasn't enough, and it would never just be enough. The past times Percy had said that he was in love with her and had truly meant it, she would always reply saying that she loved him. Percy understood her ways, and had held her close and had made pointless small talk. Percy would look at her and see the gears working in her brain, trying to find the logic behind being in love, or just loving. But this time Percy felt differently. He felt anger bubbling in his chest, rising into his throat and suddenly forming words.

"Do you know the difference between being in love, and just plain loving?" he snapped. She looked at him her eyes wide, and nodded. Percy wasn't used to being the logical one in this relationship. But it looked like the tables had turned and this time it was his turn. "Loving means looking at someone and caring about them. Caring about something happening to them and the consequences of whatever you are doing, affecting them. Keeping them in mind and wanting to keep them safe. And i suppose that is the way you feel about me?" Percy said it like a statement, but meant it like a question. She just blinked at him. "Well i don't feel the same" he said. Mixed emotions flashed across her face. "Being in love with someone means not caring about the consequences, not even thinking. Just doing. Just feeling giddy and wanting to spend every possible second with that one person. But i suppose, with love and being in love being so completely different, that i will feel both of those things, but will always have only one of them being felt back. And that sucks. That really sucks." He finished his speech and looked at her. Her mouth hung open slightly, but he knew the reason behind it. What he had just said made sense. It was logical. Which was what she lived for.

"i..-"

"No. Just forget it."

He stood up and rushed into the forest. As he walked past the campfire he could feel the stares burning into his back. He pushed himself into the wilderness stomping and pushing back twigs that sprung into his face with wreck less abandon. He found himself deeper into the forest than he had ever been before. He sat down on the ground, expecting to cry. But he couldn't. He just stared at a caterpillar that was crawling along a twig. Just a normal, mortal bug. And it was one of the only times in his life that he wished he could be like that caterpillar. Normal. Mortal. A normal, mortal kid, with normal, mortal friends and a normal, mortal dad.

A tingling sensation erupted on his neck.

He'd felt that feeling too many time to not know what it meant.

It meant trouble.

Slowly, Percy reached into his pocket and brought out riptide. He stood up and turned around. He came face to face with a huge golden head. Red eyes flickered on the things head. But there was something off about it. _They're fake _he realised.

_No not fake...mechanical. _

He brought riptide an inch closer. A bad mistake. The strange mechanical thing roared and came closer. Percy stumbled backwards. He was able to get a better look at the creature that was suddenly in front of him, about to rip his head off. And then a memory of beckendorf washes over him. Beckendorf talking excitedly about a new project. Beckendorf showing him, a then peaceful, bronze dragon.

Bronze dragon.

Before he could think the dragon came at him. He did the only thing he could think of. He ran. Which was stupid since the dragon was about 10 times bigger than Percy and would catch up on him within seconds. He felt the dragons head suddenly make contact with the small of his back. _Oh gods no, not there. _

He went flying into the air and landed with a sickening crunch on the ground. The dragon was gone. He stared up and the stars, saying his prayers. He felt himself becoming weak, his head flopping to the side. He saw the caterpillar he had seen what must have been only minutes earlier, crawling along the same twig. He thought of his mom, Paul, Tyson, Grover...her. It hit him like a ton of bricks. His last words to her, also the last words he would ever say, were him more or less yelling at her. _No _he reminded himself, _you told her you were in love with her. _But then that reminded him of the reason he was yelling at her, and he was sad again. But he loved her.

He, Percy Jackson, was in love with her.

Percy Jackson was in love with Annabeth chase.

That was his last thought as he watched a bird land, pick up the caterpillar that was crawling along the twig, and fly away with it dangling from its mouth.

**A/N: ok, thoughts? Im not sure whether or not to keep this as a one shot or keep going with it really. Should i carry on or just keep it short and sweet? Ehh help! Id also like to say thank you to the people that reviewed my SWAC story, which sadly failed. I really am sorry to all of you for that. but i hope you like this anyways. Id like to of put more romantic moments in it but hey ho. If i carry on i probably will. Also if i carry on, it would probably only consist of about 6 chapters. Well review my lovelies! **


	2. Chapter 2

Annabeth sat there, her mouth still slightly open wondering what the hell had just happened. She had listened to Percy's speech. She had listened and she had known that every word he had said was completely and utterly true. Even though, she knew, that he had said it in a sudden rush of anger, she couldn't help but feel slightly hurt. Its not like she could control her feelings entirely. She loved him. She knew that for sure. Her brain was mush at that point though, as she remembered another thing he had said.

_He's in love with me. _

She let that sink in for a little while. The thought pushed back everything else. She drank it in and became intoxicated by it, she felt like giggling and twirling around and being like those prissy girls in the Aphrodite cabin that she despised so much.

So she decided to go look for him.

Shakily, she stood up. After all, that speech would leave anyone confused. When she made her way to the campfire, she found that percy wasn't there. In fact no one was there, even though the fire was still burning away. After all her time in camp half-blood, not once had she seen the fire still burning without one person thinking to extinguish it. The people at camp half-blood may be many things, but careless was not one of them. "Chiron?" she shouted nervously. No answer. It was then that she heard a lot of shouting and confusion coming from the forest. An out of breath, confused looking Clarisse suddenly emerged from the edge of the forest. She locked eyes with annabeth and her whole face became pale in the moonlight.

"annabeth" she choked out. Slowly she made herself towards annabeth. It made annabeth nervous, to see someone like Clarisse look so agitated and downright sick. "oh gods, annabeth" she whispered. Something was wrong. Why was everyone acting so strange and weird, and most importantly, where were they?

"Clarisse, what's wrong? Where is everyone? Where's Percy?" annabeth demanded. But Clarisse stood there. When Clarisse was speechless, something was seriously wrong. Annabeth considered how percy had left, how suddenly most of the camp was also now gone, All of them most likely in the forest, along with percy. How Clarisse was just standing there. And when Clarisse said the words "annabeth, im so sorry" she knew that it was all linked. She was about to push her way past Clarisse, when a group of campers suddenly rushed past, with Chiron at the front looking even more worried than Clarisse. She felt sick.

"Chiron where have you been? Where's p-" she stopped herself when she saw 6 kids from the Ares cabin carrying a stretcher with someone on it. The words stuck in her throat as she watched, silently, as they rushed the camper to the infirmary. The kid on the stretcher had long black hair, and even though his eyes were closed and he looked as though he were sleeping, she knew him. She knew that face better than her own. And by the way kids peeked behind their cabin doors. The way that a horrid silence settled over the camp and how every face was a mask of grief, she was positive that she knew the boy on the stretcher. She was positive that he was none other than Percy Jackson. Annabeth also knew that you never got put on a stretcher unless it was serious, this was a camp for demi-gods after all. Kids wouldn't be watching in horror unless this was bad. Really bad. She felt her world pull out from underneath her, leaving her free-falling, unable to cling on to anything. She was aware that she was swaying. She was aware that when she fell to her knees, 3 of her siblings from the Athena cabin came rushing up to her. "no" was all she said. When Chiron stared at her, his eyes were full of pain. "Chiron, no" her eyes were wide as she stared at the lake where her and percy had been sitting only an hour earlier, laughing at fond memories. Chiron just shook his head. Her heart, her brain, her whole entire being, was screaming a horrible rhythm

_Percy, Percy, Percy, Percy. _

"no"

Annabeth wasn't fully aware of how she had gotten there, but 20 minutes later she was slumped on the floor, barely breathing, as percy lay on a bed next to her. She had watched as people had rushed around him, trying desperately to keep him alive. But annabeth knew better. Chiron said it had been the bronze dragon that had hit him on the small of his back, sending him flying. Chiron had turned up, looking for him, right as percy had landed. But only one thing stuck in her head.

The small of his back.

He had been dead for 19 minutes 37 seconds.

At one point his heart had suddenly beat erratically at the 9 minute mark. And then just as soon as it had started, it had then ended. Again it had happened at the 14 minute mark. And again, it stopped as soon as it started.

Annabeth had wracked her brain trying to remember what the last thing they had said to each other.

"i.." annabeth had said.

"no. Just forget it." Percy had said.

_My fault, _annabeth thought. _It's my fault. _

She didn't say it like someone stricken with grief, looking for someone to blame. She was just stating the truth.

Again, his heart began beating. But annabeth would not allow herself to hope so she held his now cold hand, and remembered old times. But this time his heart didn't stop. It carried on. Unevenly, but still beating. Annabeth shrieked and stood up. "percy. Percy. Percy. Oh gods, percy please." She begged him. She was pushed away by Apollo cabin members, and left to stand on the sidelines. She wrapped her arms around her waist, trying to keep herself together.

The beeping of the machine still carried on, indicating `that percys heart was beating.

That he was alive.

She was forced out the infirmary. No matter how much she kicked and thrashed or screamed that she had to be there, that he needed her to be here, she was still told to leave.

"would you rather watch him die, or wait patiently for him to live?" someone from the Apollo cabin yelled. She left quietly after that.

She sat on the ground with her head in her hands, and she cried. she supposed time moved, and people went on with her lives while she sat there sobbing, but if that was true, she didn't feel it or even notice it. Someone cleared their throat right next to her. She looked up to find grover sitting next to her. She hadn't even heard him approach.

"hes alive." He stated.

Annabeth stared at grover, not daring to move in case the hope that was charging through her body stopped, and she would come to her senses and realise grover was obviously lying. But even as grover said it, he didn't sound happy.

"but barely" he then said. Annabeth continued to stare at him.

"what?" she whispered.

"a coma. He's in a coma."

Annabeth knew about comas. She'd read about them because they fascinated her. How the person inside the body was alive. But the body wasn't. She had found out it was worse than dying.

"no" she said for what must have been at least the 3rd time that night. Grover just nodded sadly. He looked up to see juniper standing by the forest. So he stood up and left.

"you can go see him. If you want." Grover said. His voice was a deadpan.

Annabeth imagined going inside and seeing the boy that she loved lying there, hardly alive. She imagined teasing him and not getting a snarky response in return. Or holding his hand and not getting a reassuring squeeze back. But still, she stood up and went into the infirmary.

She got a chair and sat next to percys bed. The machine was still beeping. She took his hand.

"howdy seaweed brain" she whispered. It was the same thing she had said only hours before. Had that only been about 3 hours ago. How could the night of taken such a shocking turn of events?

He looked like he was sleeping. But no drool was dribbling down his chin, so she knew that that was not the case.

"i love you, percy. I know its maybe not what you want to hear, if you can even hear this. But i do.i may or may not know the difference between loving and in love. But i do know that i love you. ok?" of course there was no reply. She found herself stroking back his hair. She left a lingering kiss on his cheek and then left. All she wanted to do was go back to the Athena cabin, curl up under the covers and just sob. But Chiron was standing outside.

"how are you, annabeth?" Chiron asked softly. She looked at him. It was a stupid question. "no, no of course not annabeth." He cleared his throat. "do you want the details?" she nodded. "okay. When percy landed, he hit his head. Badly. People tend to go into a coma when-"

" -they've suffered severe head trauma. Like he did. The body shuts itself down in order for the brain to heal itself, or reduce swelling." Annabeth interrupted. She knew the facts. Alot of the time she wished she didn't. Chiron nodded again.

"indeed. However in percys case, the brain seems to miraculously, still be functioning. Which may very well mean, he can hear people, he can form thoughts and memories. Most people stay in a coma for-"

"-4 weeks" annabeth interrupted again. And again, Chiron nodded.

"all we can do is pray to the gods annabeth."

Annabeth walked away from Chiron, went to the Athena cabin, crawled into bed under the covers, and cried.

**A/N: ahhh i feel sort of evil. I decided to add another chapter because...well i wanted to. I hope you like it even though some of the characters were a bit ooc. Well review and enjoy. c: **


	3. Chapter 3

Percy could hear things. He could feel things too. He could feel annabeths hand entwined with his and the words that she said that would, even though he was in a vegetable state, still make his heart thump. This would be kind of annoying, since everyone could hear his heart beat erratically, considering he was connected to a machine. He could hear Chiron and the Apollo cabins whispered conversation. But he couldn't reply to them. He felt like a fly on a wall, listening to everyones conversation but unable to but in. It was the most infuriating thing ever, and he'd been through hours of annabeth going on about architecture. He tried rolling over on the bed, but of course, he couldn't. He was screaming but no one could hear him. He then heard annabeth speaking and he wanted so desperately to reply. He wanted to tell her that he loved her too and that he'd be back soon. The camp could survive without him for about 4 weeks right? They'd done it before when he went to calypso's island. He tried, day by day, to speak or move but it was a hopeless cause. Annabeth would come in everyday, telling him stories and updating him. He heard his mum at one point come in, but she didn't say anything. Grover came in most days, talking about juniper and complaining about his tough job. How long had he been lying here? A week? 2 weeks? People would just come by without warning and inject him. Its a bit of a shock to say the least. They fed him through a tube, which also sucked. He missed blue cookies, and feasts around the campfire. He would wake up. And soon.

**A/N: i made this one short because i don't really have much time and well its really depressing writing this tbh. This story has turned out WAY more morbid than i wanted it to be. Sigh. Ehh read and review as you do. **


	4. Chapter 4

Annabeth stared out across the ocean. 3 weeks. It had been 3 weeks .

21 days since percy had done the inevitable and seriously injured himself, resulting in a coma.

_that he might not come out of_, annabeth thought to herself. She scolded herself and wiped angrily at her eyes. She was sitting at the canoe lake her leg dangling over the edge of the wooden ledge. She had taken to sitting here most days, with the familiar smell of sea salt bringing back painful memories. So far percy had not showed a sign of recovery. His heart beat steadily, the only thing keeping annabeth rooted to the ground. At night she varied from falling asleep to the bleeping of the machine, her head resting next to percy's on the pillow, and bundling herself into a ball on her bed. She reminded herself that percy was percy. Perseus freaking Jackson. As if a minor coma could prevent him from coming back.

_From coming back to me._

"HEY,HEY ANNABETH" a familiar shriek came from up the hill, "FOOOOOOOOOOOOOD`!" she smiled softly. Throughout everything, grovers love of food could never falter. She sighed to herself, closed her copy of some old novel, and dragged herself away from the canoe lake, and up the hill. Drag being the only way she carried herself recently. She grumbled to herself. Weakness was unfamiliar and infuriating.

Annabeth plopped herself down at the Athena bench. Conversation faltered slightly as people stopped to smile at her. They were always so careful around her recently. Again, it pissed her off. She set to work on the fajitas. She didn't even attempt listening to the conversation, or taking part in it. She had only muttered around 4 words to her fellow campmates that weren't grover in the past few weeks. She supposed she seemed hostile and moody to the others but she didn't care.

Suddenly she was aware of a silence at the table.

"huh?" she said. She also noticed, the nervousness and embarrassment on the Athena members faces. Next to the boy sitting across from her sat a girl, that she only vaguely remembered ever saying 3 words to, who looked much braver and superior than the others. "did i miss something?"

The girl raised her eyebrows. "yes. You did. And you have done for the past 3 weeks"

Silence. Annabeth raised her eyebrows in return. She wasn't exactly shocked. It was only a matter of time before someone would become increasingly angry. "oh god, again with the silence thing? You know, im starting to think that you never even belonged in the Athena cabin. No true Athena child would ever crawl into themselves if faced with a challenge."

She wasn't even upset. She was just tired. Even the fajitas didn't look appetising anymore. The whole camp by now had gone silent and were staring at both the girl, and at annabeth in shock.

"we obviously haven't beein introduced. Im annabeth. Im the head of the Athena cabin. I have fought in at least 50 battles. Ive been her for more than half my life and let me tell you, know more than anyone in this whole damn cabin conbined. My boyfriend is in a coma. Because of me. So yeah, i really do not care whatever pointless thing you are going on about. Is that all? Because i have a life long reading list that i do intend on finishing." She stood up and left.

Where all that had come from, she didn't know. But the look on the girls face and everyone in the camp immediately made her feel amazingly better. It was a mixture of disbelief and amazement. Except, unlike all of her winning arguments in front of the camp, not one of them looked happy or proud. In fact, all the campers looked more depressed than ever. And just like that, her happiness was abolished. She stumbled towards the infirmary and bashed the doors open. She flung herself towards percys bed. "oh, percy." She sobbed. She grabbed his hand put it against her cheek pretending that it was like before. When they would sit by the fire alone and just hold each other.

She even thought she felt percys hand curl against her cheek.

Her eyes flung open. She was frozen.

Percys fingers fluttered against her cheek.

She stared at his closed eyes and sleep like face.

His brows suddenly furrowed, and his hand grabbed at her cheek, the other hand lying on the bed grasped the covers.

"percy?"


End file.
